With Eyes Wide Open
by predatorynature
Summary: AU. Buffy and Dean Winchester met when she was 15, he was 22. He left when she needed him the most. Now it’s more than 3 yrs later. BuffyDean
1. Chapter 1

With Eyes Wide Open

By Asha, aka predatorynature

Buffy/Dean

Rated T

Background: Buffy and Dean met when she was 15, he was 22. Now it's more than 3 yrs later. The stuff with the Master and Angel has already happened. First 2 seasons are the same. I know Parker doesn't appear till later in Buffy, but he's here now. I don't own Buffy or Dean, I hate that I have to admit that out loud.

Chapter 1

"Well hello princess", a southern voice drawled in her ear.

18 year old Buffy Summers was frozen in place, and not just because of the delicious shivers that had unexpectedly traveled down her spine when his lips brushed her ear. No, it was because she was hearing the voice of a man whom she had not spoken to in almost 4 years. She turned around slowly, hoping she wasn't imagining that voice. She was faced with the image of him smirking, leaning against the Impala in the parking lot of her school. Her gaze traveled up his well defined chest, past those full lips, and finally stopped when she reached those hazel-green eyes twinkling with mirth.

The next thing he knew, he had an armful of Buffy snuggling in his warm embrace. With his nose buried in her hair, he took the time to savour the sweet strawberry fragrance that he had gone without for too long.

"What are you doing here? How long are you staying? Why the hell didn't you keep in touch?", she questioned when she finally pulled her face away ever so slightly from the crook of his neck. Dean released a deep throated chuckle in response to Buffy's typical rambling, drew his head down, and kissed her forehead.

"I missed you too, sweetheart", he murmured against her skin.

To the many spectators that had gathered in the parking, it seemed like the reunion of two lovers, but really, Buffy and Dean's relationship was not like that. They met in L.A. when Buffy was 15, soon after she had been called. She had been patrolling with her then watcher, Merrick, when they had been ambushed by a gang of vampires. Now usually, a slayer could handle this no problem, but the fact that Buffy was completely inexperienced, combined with the shock of witnessing one of the vampires draining her watcher was too much for her to take. The next thing she knew, she woke up to that southern accented voice that she was now so familiar with, swearing like a sailor about little girls who were stupid enough to walk through cemeteries at night.

When her eyes fluttered open, 22 year old Dean Winchester felt all his anger and irritation melt away. He bandaged her numerous cuts with a tenderness that no one would dare associate with him. That night, Buffy poured out her life story to the stranger who made her feel unexplainably safe, including her calling, crying the entire time.

Dean silently listened as the dark-haired girl poured her heart out to him. At some point, her sobs became so violent, they shook her entire frame. Now Dean Winchester is the type of guy that can't deal with a woman's tears. Well, he can, but only if those tears are coming from a hot female writhing on his bed, moaning his name, and begging for just a little more. A girl whose tears have nothing to do with sex? Not so much. He tried whispering words of comfort to her, and awkwardly rubbed her back in slow circles, reminiscent of what his mother used to do to him to lull him asleep. As the night went on, his anger grew, directed at the people who had placed such a heavy burden on this girl, whom he felt shockingly connected to, so early on in her life. He felt an unexplainable need to protect her, all the while cursing her in his head for making him think and act like a pussy around her.

From then on, Dean had taken her under his wing, teaching her all he knew about fighting the supernatural. For all intensive purposes, she became the little sister/best friend he never had. Whenever she wasn't in school, she was with him. They patrolled together nightly, as he was far too protective to let her patrol by herself, never mind the fact that she was the Slayer. Many a night found her curled up in his dingy hotel room after she had a nightmare about her watcher's death. His protective embrace was her equivalent of warm milk on nights when she couldn't sleep.

Dean vividly remembered the night that their comfortable existence had come to an end, almost a year after he had found her. His dad had gone missing after going on one of his hunting trips, and the same loyalty to family that bound him to Buffy also made him leave her to look for his dad. She had watched him leave with tears streaming down her face, silently begging him to not rip away the only family she had left. Yes, she still had her mother, but she was completely ignorant of her daughter's activities. She needed someone she could share all the parts of her life with, someone who could ease the burden on her shoulders of protecting the world, someone who could make her feel safe and protected those times when she was a 15 year old girl dealing with her life, or strong and powerful when she took on her role of the Slayer. Dean was all of those things to her. She had been devastated when he left, his departure causing her to get sloppy in her slaying and start failing most of her classes. She was so screwed up that she was actually relieved to have gotten kicked out of Hemery in L.A. and had to move to Sunnydale.

Buffy was kicked out of her thoughts when she felt his rough fingers brush under her chin and force her to look him in the eyes.

"You gettin' bored of me already? Or maybe your attention span has gone down now that you're a blonde", he said while fingering her newly golden locks. "You know I always figured you were a natural blonde, care to let me find out for sure?" he said while leering at her in a playful way.

Buffy reluctantly stepped out of his embrace while her hand whipped out and slapped his chest.

"Whoa easy there sweetheart, many a woman would be pissed if you damaged this", he said while pretending she hurt him by pressing his palm to his heart.

"Yeah, probably some guys too".

"Hey! Now that was uncalled for. See if I give you your present now".

And just like that bitch Buffy was magically transformed to the young girl he met all those years ago. She looked up, her green eyes wide and her lower lip jutting out in a way that always made Dean falter.

"Well you do have a lot of birthdays to make up for".

"I know princess", he said, hating the way she made him feel guilty for neglecting her while at the same time relishing the fact that he had someone who needed him. He slung an arm around shoulder and let her towards his baby.

"C'mon, lets get outta here. We have a lot of catching up to do".

A/N: I would love some reviews. This is my first fic, so I want to know if you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Buffy sat on the couch in her living room admiring her new pendant. Dean stood beside the couch, taking in all the emotions she blatantly displayed, all the while rocking on his heels with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"So does this mean I get mine back now?" he said when he finally became too uncomfortable with the silence.

The pendant he had gotten for her was a replica of his own, except smaller and on a chain instead of a leather cord. He had given her his own the day he left, trying to ease her fears of him not coming back.

The tears that had threatened to spill from her eyes started to pour down her face when he secured it around her neck. He didn't know what do to, so he tried to lighten her mood by joking that he was damn fond of the pendant and would come back, if only to reclaim his possession. 'Course, in the midst of her hysterical crying was probably not the best time for a not so funny joke. He learned that the hard way, as he was still sporting the bruise on his shoulder a week after he left, a not so pleasant reminder of what he had left behind.

"Uh uh, you have to earn it back. And leaving for 3 years? Probably not such a good start" she said while clutching the leather cord protectively.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I'm a bad boy. Punish me?" his husky voice doing things to her that she never associated with him before. She blinked, and just like that, the smouldering look in those gorgeous eyes disappeared and she was once again faced with her best friend.

"No, thanks. So what would you like to do for your homecoming tonight?"

"Hmm, well sweetheart, me locked in a room with 2 hot blondes doing things that you should have no knowledge of sound pretty good"

"Okay, I'll bite and pretend that I'm still the innocent little girl you left all those years ago. And I was referring to what you want to do with me. I was thinking the Bronze, it's like the only club here, and patrolling/sparring?"

Dean closed his eyes, trying to will away the image of pimply teenage boys feeling up the girl he had pretty much adopted. Alright Dean, concentrate on something else. Oooh, those hot twins you spent the night with last month. And handcuffs. Okay much better now.

"I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear that. Yeah that sounds good. Head out in an hour"

* * *

Review! Si vous plait 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"What the fuck are you wearing?" Dean exclaimed when Buffy came down the stairs an hour and a half later.

"Well, I think they're called clothes, Dad" she said, while inspecting her white lace halter top and jean mini skirt.

"The hell they are. I think they have to have more material than lingerie to be considered clothes. You can't wear that, go change, and you better be wearing pants when you come back down" he ordered.

Buffy was about to protest and show Dean just how much she had changed over the past 3 years, but thought of a better alternative to bitching him out.

A half an hour later, Buffy again came down the stairs, wearing pants, as requested.

Dean's jaw dropped. Sure, he was used to being surrounded by gorgeous girls, I mean, c'mon, it was him, but Buffy was an entirely different story. She was wearing skin tight black leather pants and a see-through black shirt showcasing exactly how much she loved pretty lingerie. The pants showed off her tight ass, which he had a chance to see for himself when she bent over to put on her 3 inch stiletto boots. Her eyes were smoky, and her lips made to look even more full that usual.

She sauntered up to him, stopping so her lips were only inches away from his. She slowly trailed a hand down his chest, and he could feel the heat radiating from her palm, as well as the puffs of air that were hitting his lips.

"I don't know what you expected I'd be like after you left, but I'm not the same girl, so get used to it". A beat skipped and she moved her head to the side, so her lips were touching his ear. "I've got muscles you haven't even dreamed of" she purred in his ear.

He roughly grabbed her by the arms and pulled her flush against him.

"I think you're forgetting who you're dealing with, princess" he practically growled. His body was tense, and she could feel all his muscles practically vibrating with energy.

And just like that, Buffy snapped out of it and stepped out of his embrace. She had no idea why she had thought it was a good idea to do that. All she wanted was to show him that she had grown up, but that was really not a good idea.

All the feelings that she had suppressed when he had left were rapidly rising to the surface. Sure, she had a tiny crush on him from the day she met him, but besides the fact that there was a 7 year age difference, he never thought about her like that.

Over the year they spent together, she had gotten over her innocent crush and just been happy that he was basically giving her a makeshift family. But her thoughts a moment ago had been far from innocent. Oh well, she would just ignore it. I mean, Dean was practically her big brother. Yeah, that's right Buff, live in Denialonia.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nursing his bottle of beer like it was the only thing keeping him going, Dean glared at the dance floor for the 100th time that night. After they had left her house, Buffy had switched back to sweet and innocent, and spent the entire car ride swapping stories and laughs. Granted, Sunnydale is so small that it was like a 2 minute car ride, but still, it was something.

Now Buffy was channelling her inner sex kitten, dancing in the middle of the dance floor, swinging and rotating her hips in a way that would have made a stripper jealous.

Oh, but that wasn't why he was glaring.

If she was dancing by herself he could have just sat back and enjoyed the show…wait…bad thoughts about your 'sister'. Bad Dean. No, it had something to do with the guy who she was dancing with, if you could even call it dancing, who she had oh so casually said was her boyfriend.

Dean fingers clenched and unclenched reflexively around his beer bottle when he saw the guy's hands trail down and grab her ass. Oh no, he was far past angry.

If Buffy was paying attention to him instead of Grabby Hands over there, she might have noticed the tell tale sign of his anger- i.e. ignoring the hot brunette who's breasts were practically spilling out of her shirt, licking her lips in a way that promised to make him cum long and hard if he took her home.

He glared at the boy over Buffy's head, pretty easy to do since she was so tiny.

Damn, the girl had so many personalities it was hard to keep track.

Buffy silently crept back to the bar when her feet starting killing her. Note to self: stilettos make a good makeshift stake when slaying, but bad for dancing. She found Dean exactly where she left him, the only difference being 5 empty beer bottles now lined up in front of him. She decided it would be fun to scare him for acting like an ass all night. Oh yeah, she knew he had been glaring at her and Parker. Yeah, she was short, but that's where Slayer spidy senses come in handy. Just as she was about throw a half hearted punch at his shoulder, he caught her fist mid swing without turning around.

"M' not the drunk yet, princess" he drawled, impressively only slightly slurring his words.

"Hmm, your senses have definitely improved. I used to be able to sneak up behind you whenever you were waiting for me and make you scream like a little girl"

"Yeah, that or I could see your reflection" he said while tilting his head to indicate the huge mirror behind the entire expanse of the bar.

She blushed bright red at his words. Damn, she hated being white sometimes.

"Umm…yeah…knew that was there…just testing you" she managed to stutter out. "So you ready to head out?"

"I dunno, you ready to stop using that boy as your stripper pole?" he spat out.

"You're mad at me" she stated, casting her gaze towards the sticky beer covered floor, kicking her foot out at an imaginary rock, and the piece de resistance, yeah, she was pouting.

He sighed; silently cursing the fact that she had him wrapped around her little finger.

"No I'm not, let's just get outta here". He drained the last of his beer and wrapped his arm around her waist, tightening his hold and glaring at all the males who checked out her scantily clad body on their way out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So I'm so sorry about the late posting. Hopefully none of you have lost interest in this story. I already have a new chapter written, I just have to edit a bit. I have a break in a couple weeks so hopefully I'll be able to pump out a few more chapters of this and Consequences.

* * *

Chapter 5

"So, I think we've established that I'm happy to see you and all, but what are you doing here? Did you find your dad?" she asked after they were both sitting on the ground resting their backs on the tombstone behind him.

"Yeah, we found him. Turns out he wasn't missing after all, just tracking down leads to find the demon that killed mom, and forgot to call for three years. Spent all that time looking for the jackass just cuz he was too busy to pick up the phone.

Buffy decided to be nice, and not retort with "like father, like son". After all, he had done the same to her, and she had spent countless nights waiting by the phone and worrying if he was dead or not.

"Wait-we?" her voice rising a bit with anger at the thought of him taking a girlfriend along, while when she asked to come with him, he said it was too dangerous.

If he noticed her sudden anger, Dean didn't let on.

"Yeah, remember I told you about my brother Sam? I dropped him off in Stanford on my way here, but he's gonna come meet us in a few days" Dean said, thinking about how devastated Sam looked when he drove him to the cemetery Jessica was buried.

"I can't wait to meet him, what's he like?" she asked. The gentle breeze that they had been enjoying picked up and Buffy shivered. Dean wrapped his arm around her and brought her closer to his body without a second thought. She snuggled in further, and inhaled the foresty scent that was all Dean, mixed in with the smell of alcohol.

"Uh, well for one thing, he's freakishly tall…" He lost his train of thought when imagining his over 6 foot brother standing beside the 5'3 woman who was currently trying to burry herself inside his leather coat and smiled at the picture. "He's the complete opposite of me in some ways, hell he even has some superpowers. But seriously though, you'll like him"

"Probably, if he's nothing like you" she said while giving him a teasing smile. "You must have been pretty pissed at your dad, huh? What happened when you found him?"

"Hugged him after seeing he was okay, then punched him in the jaw for leaving, then drove straight here. But enough about that, I wanna know what's been happening with you".

"Not too much. Moved here, got a new watcher, made some new friends, boyfriends. Hey, wait a sec. How did you know that I was in Sunnydale?"

"Just cuz I wasn't here to look you myself doesn't mean I wasn't keeping tabs on you"

If it were anyone else, Buffy would have been pissed off with the insinuation that she needed to be taken care of. But from Dean, his protectiveness made her feel safe, and she welcomed it.

"Alright, enough with the talkage, I've been dying for a good sparring partner since you left" she said as she bounced to her feet. "Literally" she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that princess? I'm pretty sure you just said you died" he yelled while jumping to his feet. "You better have been joking" he threatened, stalking up to her in a way that made her feel like the prey instead of the natural predator that was in her.

"Oh shit" Buffy mumbled, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. She knew he wouldn't take the news very well. This was not how she planned to tell him of that little incident with the Master. Oh no, she had it all planned out. She was gonna buy some whisky and get him ridiculously drunk, then tell him, and pray he wouldn't remember in the morning.

Oh well, might as well get a good fight out of it.

"Yeah, but it was only for a few minutes, no biggie. Gotta say though, death by drowning much less preferable than when I let Angelus bite me", deliberately using the name she knew he would recognize. He didn't disappoint.

He grabbed her hair and pulled, tilting her neck to the side and exposing the mark that Angel left on her skin. "You LET the fucking scourge of Europe bite you? What the fuck were you thinking?" he practically growled.

"Relax, it's not like I didn't enjoy it. Did you know vampires have the ability to make their bite pleasurable? Let me tell you, that was the most erotic thing that's happened to me in my life" she deliberately provoked.

"You actually got off on his bite? What the hell is wrong with you? I know I didn't fucking raise you like that"

"You're right, I liked to think of it as an acquired taste. I mean, all that fighting makes me horny…what's a girl supposed to do? C'mon, hit me, show me what a stupid girl I've been".

Just as soon as the words had slipped out of her mouth, Dean lashed out and punched her in the gut. She had learned a long time ago that the only way to get Dean to fight with his full strength was to get him pissed. Apparently, he wasn't really comfortable hitting girls, never mind the fact that she's the Slayer, and could take anything he dished out.

She smiled predatorily.

"You gonna show me what you got?" he asked as she circled him.

"You gonna show me how it's done?"

"There are so many inappropriate answers to that question", and just like that she kicked his feet out from under him. Half an hour later had them both panting and out of breath, so they finally decided to call a draw.

Dean was pretty damn impressed. When they had sparred in the past, he had always won. Sure, she was stronger physically, but that doesn't matter if you don't know how to use it.

"So you done using me to take out your aggression?" she asked him with a smile on her face, letting him know she was teasing and had enjoyed their sparring.

"Well that depends, any other near-death experiences you have to share?"

Just like that, the smile disappeared from her face, filling her eyes with dread instead. She quickly walked out of the cemetery in the direction of her house.

"Buffy Anne Summers, you better get your ass back here" he stated in a deceptively calm voice. Oh, but Buffy knew better. His rage was just under the surface, barely being restrained. And considering she was already sore enough, she wanted to avoid this topic as much as possible.

"Umm, how bout not" she spit out as she made a break for it.

* * *

* * *

A/N: As always, please read and review! I love it. I'm still very insecure about my writing, so please do. Constructive criticism is always welcome as well, as long as it's criticism phrased nicely. 


End file.
